Affective damage from teachers� written corrective feedback

Abstract

Several studies believe that providing feedback on a students� writing task offers several benefits. However, giving excessive corrections on students� mistakes can have a negative impact on the students� feeling. This study aims to investigate English Foreign Language students� emotional response to the teachers� written corrective feedback. A qualitative method was applied. The participants were 72 third grade students at an institution in Cimahi. To collect the data, a five-point Likert scale questionnaire and a semi-structured interview were applied. The results revealed that the teachers� written corrective feedback had negative impact to the students� feelings, especially for the students who had mid and low proficiency level in writing. It even led to the students� demotivation. This indicates that the teachers have to consider several things before they give some written feedback as it can affect the students� attitude in a negative way.